Investigated suicides among the elderly (aged 60+ yrs) in Shanghai, China, in 1968-1982. Out of 2,109 total suicides, 630 were elderly people, thus representing 32.7 per 100,000 & 29.1% of total suicides. The most common factors associated with elderly suicide were frustration over incurable illness, family problems, & psychopathology. Persecution during the Cultural Revolution led to 50 of the suicides.